Israeli soldier shooting young girl at close range in Hebron, killing her

In its Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories for the week of 17 - 30 September 2015, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) found that 3 Palestinian civilians, including a girl and a deaf young man, were killed in the West Bank. 28 Palestinians, including 12 children, were wounded. And 135 Palestinians, including 46 children and women, were abducted by Israeli troops.

Israeli attacks in the West Bank:

In the West Bank, on 22 September 2015, Israeli forces stationed at a military checkpoint at the western entrance of al-Shuhada Street used lethal force and killed Hadeel al-Hashlamoun (18) from a range of 3 meters under the pretext that she was holding a knife. As a result, she sustained 10 bullet wounds throughout her body. She was taken to Tsha'ari Tsediq Hospital in West Jerusalem, but she was pronounced dead in the evening.

An eyewitness, Fawwaz Abu 'Eishah (34) said to a PCHR fieldworker that:

"At approximately 07:40 on Tuesday, 22 September 3015, I went as usual to my work and when I approached Checkpoint 56, I heard the soldiers screaming. When I arrived, I heard two soldiers shouting at a girl wearing a Niqab and covering all her body with black and carrying a black purse around her neck. Her hands were under her clothes. There were 3 school children thereabout and two soldiers pointing their guns at the girl. I approached an Israeli soldier and asked him to allow me to talk to the girl as I speak Hebrew and the girl did not understand what they were telling her.

While the girl was not responding with a word, the two soldiers again and again were shouting at her asking her in Hebrew to back off. However, she did not move. The two soldiers accepted and when I talked to her asking her to back off, an Israeli soldier fired a bullet at the ground next to the girl, who did move at all as well. I then convinced the girl who did not talk to me to go back. I removed with my hand a red plastic barrier which closes the trail leading to the centre of the city.

The girl walked 3 meters away from the two soldiers when 4 other soldiers arrived at the checkpoint. They then loaded their guns and pointed them at the girl and I was walking behind her heading to my work on the same way. Before we could leave the checkpoint, the soldier who at the beginning fired a bullet at the ground, pointed his gun in the girl's face. There was a 120-centimeter long iron barrier between them.

He then repointed the weapon on the ground and fired another bullet which did not hit the girl. I then heard the 6 soldiers screaming in Hebrew asking the girl to stop. I asked the soldiers to allow me to talk to the girl, but two of them pointed their guns at me and asked me to back off. Meanwhile, I became behind the soldiers after I went back. The soldier kept shouting at the girl asking her in Hebrew to see her hands and stand to the wall. I talked to the girl translating what the soldier was saying, but she did not answer and her hands were under her cover and the purse around her neck. The same soldiers fired another bullet next to the girl, and I kept begging her to show her hands to them, but she did not respond.

A few minutes later, I saw the soldier who was firing warning bullets backing off and sitting in the point shooting position and pointing his gun at the girl from around a distance of 2 meters. He fired a bullet at the girl wounding her left leg, so she fell on the ground and her purse fell down. Her right hand was revealed to be holding a 25-centimeter home knife with a wooden hand. She did not get up, but the soldier shot her again in the other leg. A few minutes later, he fired four bullets at the girl wounding her in the chest and abdomen and then another bullet which I do not know if it hit her or not.

At that time, no Palestinian was in the scene but 3 children and a foreign activist from "EAPPI", which monitors the interaction between the Palestinian inhabitants and the Israeli military in the old city. I shouted at the soldier, at whom another soldier was shouting and saying in Hebrew "Dai…Dai" means enough. I then took another road to reach my work, and when I was turning, I saw a PRCS ambulance stopping behind the checkpoint. I knew later that the girl's name is Hadil Salah al-Hashlamoon."

Dr. Salah al-Deen al-Hashlamoon, the father of the girl and an Anaesthetist and Head of the intensive Care Unit (ICU) in al-Ahli Hospital, and other doctors who examined the girl emphasized that she was left for 45 minutes before being given first aid despite her serious health condition. Medical sources emphasized that the girl received 10 bullets in her body wounding her in the left ankle; right knee; upper right thigh; right waist; upper humerus; right elbow); the upper right area of the abdomen; left side of the chest; and under the chest.

On 22 September 2015, 22-year-old Diya' al-Talahma, from Kharsa village, south of Doura, southwest of Hebron, was killed due to the explosion of an explosive device he was holding near the security road between bypass road 60 and "Nigohot" settlement. It was not obvious whether the explosive device exploded because Israeli forces fired at it or not. However, Israeli forces prevented a Palestinians ambulance from approaching or transporting him for over 3 hours and 40 minutes. They left him bleeding to death.

On 24 September 2015, medical sources at Rafidiya Hospital in Nablus declared Ahmed Khatatba (25), from Beit foreik village, east of Nablus, died of wounds he sustained earlier. According to PCHR's investigations, on 18 September 2015, Israeli forces stationed at Beit Foreik checkpoint, east of Nablus, opened fire at Palestinian civilian car crossing the checkpoint. As a result, the driver, al-Khatatba. sustained 2 bullet wounds.

On 20 September 2015, Israeli forces opened fire near al-Zahra' gas station in Jenin at Mohammed al-Alaqma (21). They wounded him in the left leg and then abducted him. This happened during an Israeli incursion into Jenin city and refugee camp.

On 25 September 2015, a Palestinian civilian was wounded when Israeli forces opened fire at a group of Palestinian youngsters who were protesting around Beit Foreik checkpoint, east of Nablus. On 26 September 2015, a Palestinian boy was wounded during a similar protest around the iron gate leading to "Etamar" settlement, southeast of Beit Foreik village.

In occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli forces wounded Mohammed Ibrahim Essa (13) in his head when they moved into al-Eisawiya village, northeast of the city. Therefore, he was taken to al-Maqased Hospital for medical treatment, where medical sources stated that he sustained fractures to the skull. His health condition was described as serious.

In the same context, Israeli forces continued to use excessive and systematic use of force against peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians and Israeli and international human rights activists in protest at the construction of the annexation wall and settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. As a result, 17 civilians, including 10 children, were wounded.

During other protests organized in the vicinity of Ofer Prison, southwest of Ramallah, on 18 September 2015, 8 civilians, including 6 children, were wounded.

On 29 September, 7 civilians, including a child, were wounded during a peaceful protest at the northern entrance of al-Bireh city in support for al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli forces conducted 67 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank

Israeli forces continued efforts to create a Jewish demographic majority in occupied East Jerusalem. An under-construction house was demolished in Silwan and a farmland was levelled in al-Eisawiya village.

Israeli forces and settlers continued to storm al-Aqsa mosque and impose restrictions on the entry of Palestinians into it.

Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip:

Israeli warplanes carried out 5 airstrikes against the north of the Gaza Strip. In addition, Israeli forces abducted 9 Palestinian civilians, including 4 children, who attempted to cross into Israel via the border fence.

In the context of targeting Palestinian fishermen, on 19 September 2015, Israeli gunboats stationed off al-Waha shore, northwest of Beit Lahia village in the north of the Gaza Strip, opened fire sporadically around fishing boats. Similar shooting incidents occurred on 20 September 2015 within 3 nautical miles. On 26 September 2015, Israeli navy forces sunk a fishing boat off Khan Yunis shore in the south of the Gaza Strip.

On 19 September 2015, Israeli warplanes fired a missile at a training site belonging to the Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas movement), east of Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip. As a result, 2 Palestinian civilians sustained bruises throughout their bodies and a telecommunication signal tower was destroyed.

Also on the same day, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a water tower in Beit Hanoun town in the north of the Gaza Strip, but neither casualties nor material damage were reported.

On 30 September 2015, Israeli warplanes carried out 3 airstrikes on training sites belonging to Palestinian armed groups, but no casualties were reported.

Israeli settlement activity:

Israeli forces continued to support settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.

On 19 September 2015, a group of settlers ambushed Palestinian civilian cars coming from and to Beit Dajan village, east of Nablus. They opened fire at a Palestinian vehicle, but no casualties were reported.

Israeli attacks on non-violent demonstrations:

Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against peaceful protests in the West Bank. 24 Palestinian civilians, including 11 children, were wounded.

Following the Friday prayer on 18 September 2015, dozens of Palestinian civilians and international and Israeli human rights defenders organized a peaceful demonstration in Bil’in, west of Ramallah, in protest against the annexation wall and settlement activities The protestors tried to sneak the fence. Israeli soldiers stationed behind the wall, fired live bullets, rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas canisters and sound bombs and chased them into the olive fields and into residential houses in response.

As a result, many civilians suffered tear gas inhalation and others sustained bruises as Israeli soldiers beat them up.

Note: On Friday, 25 September 2015, a similar demonstration was organized, but no injuries were reported.

· On the same day, dozens of Palestinian civilians organized a peaceful demonstration in the center of Ni’lin village, west of Ramallah, in protest against the Annexation Wall and Settlement Activity. The demonstrators took the streets and headed to the annexation wall. Israeli forces prevented the demonstrators from crossing to the land behind the Annexation Wall, so they threw stones at them. Israeli soldiers fired live bullets, rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at the civilians, and chased them into the village.

As a result, many civilians suffered tear gas inhalation and others sustained bruises as Israeli soldiers beat them up.

Note: On Friday, 25 September 2015, a similar demonstration was organized, but no injuries were reported.

· Around the same time, dozens of Palestinian civilians and Israeli and international human rights defenders organized a peaceful demonstration in al-Nabi Saleh village, southwest of Ramallah, in protest against the annexation wall and settlement Activity. The demonstrators headed to the lands that the settlers are trying to rob by force near “Halmish” settlement. Israeli forces had closed all the entrances of the village since the morning to prevent them from participating in the demonstration. When they arrived at the aforementioned land, the demonstrators were met by live bullets, tear gas canisters, rubber-coated steel bullets, sound bombs and were chased into the village.

As a result, many civilians suffered tear gas inhalation and others sustained bruises as Israeli soldiers beat them up.

· At approximately 13:30 on Friday, Palestinian civilians and Israeli and international human rights defenders organized a protest in the center of Kafor Qaddoum village, northeast of Qalqilya, heading to the eastern entrance of the village in protest against closing that entrance since the beginning of al-Aqsa Intifada with an iron gate. When they arrived at the entrance of the gate, the demonstrators were met by live bullets, tear gas canisters, rubber-coated steel bullets, sound bombs.

As a result, 3civilians, including a child, were wounded. A 14-year-old child, was wounded by a bullet to the right leg, a 46-year-old civilian, was wounded by a bullet to the right leg, while a 45-year-old civilian, was wounded by a bullet to the right arm.

· At approximately 17:00 on Saturday, 19 September 2015, Palestinian civilians and Israeli and international human rights defenders organized a protest in the center of Kufor Qaddoum village, northeast of Qalqilya, heading to the eastern entrance of the village in protest against closing that entrance since the beginning of al-Aqsa Intifada with an iron gate. When they arrived at the entrance of the gate, the demonstrators were met by live bullets, tear gas canisters, rubber-coated steel bullets, sound bombs.

As a result, a 15-year-old child, was wounded by a bullet to the right leg.

· At approximately 13:30 on Friday, 25 September 2015, Palestinian civilians and Israeli and international human rights defenders organized a protest in the center of Kufor Qaddoum village, northeast of Qalqilya, heading to the eastern entrance of the village in protest against closing that entrance since the beginning of al-Aqsa Intifada with an iron gate. When they arrived at the entrance of the gate, the demonstrators were met by live bullets, tear gas canisters, rubber-coated steel bullets, sound bombs.

As a result, a 7-year-old child, Maram Abed al-Lateef Mousa Ali, was wounded by a bullet to the head as the bullet penetrating the window of her house. Additionally, Maram's father, Abed al-Lateef Mousa Ali, 44, was hit by a bullet to the head. It should be noted that the aforementioned civilian is chief of Nablus Police Station, who was wounded while taking his daughter to the ambulance.

Note: on Saturday, 26 September 2015, a similar demonstration was organized, but no injuries were reported.

· On Friday afternoon, 18 September 2015, dozens of Palestinian youngsters gathered in the vicinity of Ofer prison, southwest of Ramallah to protest against the Israeli policies. The demonstrators went to the prison's gate. Israeli forces closed the gate and soldiers were deployed in the area. The protestors set fire to tires and threw stones and empty bottles at Israeli soldiers, who fired live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters in response.

As a result, 8 civilians, including 6 children, were wounded and were then taken to Palestinian Medical Complex in Ramallah to receive medical treatment:

1-A 16-year-old child was wounded by a gas canister to the chest.

2-A 16-year-old child was wounded by a bullet penetrated the right leg and settled in the left leg.

3-A 15-year-old child was wounded by a bullet to the left leg.

4-A 13-year-old child was wounded by a bullet to the left thigh.

5-A 15-year-old child was wounded by a bullet to the left shoulder.

6-A 15-year-old child was wounded by a bullet under the left armpit.

7-An 18-year-old was wounded by a bullet to the right thigh; and

8-An 18-year-old was wounded by a bullet to the head.

· Also on Friday afternoon, dozens of youngsters gathered at the eastern entrance of 'Obween village, northwest of Ramallah, and threw stones at the Ramallah-Nablus road, in Wadi al-Balat area ('Oyoun al-Haramyia). Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters in response.

As a result, 3 civilians, including a child, were wounded and were then taken to Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah to receive medical treatment. The 16-year-old child was hit by a bullet to the right leg, a 26-year-old civilian was wounded by a bullet to the left leg, and a 21-year-old civilian was wounded by a bullet to the right thigh.

· On Friday afternoon, dozens of youngsters gathered in the southern entrance of Salwad village, northeast of Ramallah, on the road between Selwad and Yabroud, near Street (60) to organize a protest against Israeli policies. The protestors set fire to tires and threw stones at Israeli soldiers who fired live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters in response.

As a result, many civilians suffered tear gas inhalation and others sustained bruises as Israeli soldiers beat them up. Moreover, a group of Israeli border guards raided a house belonging to Mo'amer 'Aiad, and they beat by their hands and gun butts the following civilians : Maher Thalji Hamaad, 40, and Riyad Naiel Hamaad, 23, before arresting them then.

Note: On Friday, 25 September 2015, similar demonstration was organized with no injuries were reported.

· On Friday afternoon, dozens of youngsters gathered at the southern entrance of Jalzoun refugee camp, north of Ramallah, near the UNRWA boys school, which is about 300 meter away from "Beit Eill" settlement fence, to organize a protest against Israeli policies against al-Aqsa Mosque . The protestors threw stones at the "Beit Eill" settlement fence near the camp. Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters in response and chased them inside the refugee.

As a result, many civilians suffered tear gas inhalation and others sustained bruises as Israeli soldiers beat them up.

· Following Friday prayer, dozens of civilians organized a peaceful demonstration in front of Wasaya al-Rasoul mosque, southern Hebron. The participants raised the Palestinian flags and chanted national slogans in support for al-Aqsa Mosque towards the Israeli attacks against the sanctities in the Occupied Jerusalem. The demonstration headed to Tareq Ben Ziyad street area where Israeli soldiers deployed in the area. When participants arrived at the area, Israeli forces fired sounds bomb and tear gas canisters against them. A number of youngsters stationed in the vicinity of the residential houses and shops, threw stones and empty bottles at the soldiers.

In the meantime, many military vehicles and a wastewater pumping vehicle raided the area, ordered the demonstrators to leave and flooded the residential houses by a wastewater. In the meantime, many civilians suffered tear gas inhalation, and no detention operation were reported against the demonstrations' participants.

· On Tuesday, 29 September 2015, hundreds of Palestinian civilians gathered in the center of Ramallah to organize a supporting demonstration for al-Aqsa Mosque, and condemn Israeli forces and settlers attacks against al-Aqsa Mosque. The demonstrators marched in the streets of the village, raised the flag of Palestine and al-Aqsa Mosque's pictures. Dozens of them then headed towards the northern entrance of the village, near al-Huda petrol station, in al-Balou' neighborhood. Israeli forces deployed a large number of soldiers in the vicinity of (DCO) checkpoint and "Biet Eill" settlement. The protestors set fire to tires and threw stones at Israeli soldiers who fired live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters in response.

As a result, 7 civilians, including a child were wounded, 6 of whom were transported to the Palestinian Medical Complex in Ramallah to receive medical treatment. Moreover, Israeli forces abducted an injured person, Mohammed Akram 'Ori, who was wounded by a bullet to the thigh from the ambulance belonging to the Palestinian military medical services, while the other injured persons were identified as:

1. A 17-year-old child, who was wounded by a bullet to the right knee.

2. A 32-year-old civilian, who was wounded by a bullet to the right shoulder.

3. An 18-year-old, who was wounded by a bullet to the left knee.

4. An 18-year-old, who was wounded by a bullet to the right leg.

5. A 19-year-old, who was wounded by a bullet to the thigh; and

6. A 20-year-old, who was wounded by a bullet to the right leg.

Recommendations to the international community:

Due to the number and severity of Israeli human rights violations this week, the PCHR made several recommendations to the international community. Among these were a recommendation that PCHR call upon the international community to act in order to stop all Israeli settlement expansion activities in the Occupying Palestinian Territories through imposing sanctions on Israeli settlements and criminalizing trading with them.

In addition the PCHR calls upon the UN General Assembly to transfer the Goldstone Report to the UN Security Council in order to refer it to the International Criminal Court in accordance with Article 13(b) of the Rome Statute.

Saudi Arabia called Monday for blacklisting Israel’s settler groups as terror organizations and for taking them to international courts.

Addressing the UN Human Rights Council, Saudi Arabia's ambassador in Geneva, Faisal Trad, pushed for putting Israel’s settlement organizations on terror blacklists and to prosecute their members before international courts.

He called for holding the Israeli occupation primarily responsible for the preplanned terrorism and crimes perpetrated by fanatic settlers against Palestinian citizens.

He reiterated Saudi Arabia's firm condemnation of the “heinous terror crime” committed by Israeli settlers in Nablus’ village of Duma, in reference to an arson attack on the Dawabshe’s family home, which took away the lives of newborn Ali along with his mother and father.

He warned of the serious repercussions of such Israeli escalations, calling on the international community to immediately step in and urge the Israeli occupation authorities and settlers to cease such attacks on the Palestinian people and Islamic holy places of worship.

The Saudi delegate further pushed for pressuring the Israeli occupation to abide by international laws and conventions and to respect peoples’ freedom of worship, holding it responsible for all serious upshots of such “illegitimate acts of aggression.”

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) called for internationalizing the issue of Palestinian prisoners and for launching a large-scale campaign of solidarity with detainees especially hunger strikers.

In a statement on Monday, the DFLP called for tabling the case of Palestinian administrative detainees with the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court (ICC) within efforts of the internationalization of the issue of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

It called for transforming the issue of detainees into a public opinion issue in order to de-legitimize the Israeli occupation and to contribute in increasing the boycott of the Israeli apartheid regime as well as to prosecute Israel for its violations of the international conventions and charters.

Amnesty, which is headquarted in London, interviewed two eyewitnesses who saw Israeli occupation forces shoot the young student in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank. Based on the evidence, Amnesty concluded that al-Hashlamoun “at no time posed a sufficient threat to the soldiers to make their use of deliberate lethal force permissible.”

“This killing is the latest in a long line of unlawful killings carried out by the Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank with near total impunity,” Amnesty said.

Account of the incident

Two Israeli soldiers stopped the young woman at a checkpoint in Hebron at around 7:40 AM on September 22. Amnesty’s eyewitnesses did not consult with each other, in order to assure accuracy of their accounts. The witnesses told Amnesty al-Hashlamoun was asked to open her bag for a search. She showed them the inside of her bag, but the soldiers began to yell at her, and she froze in fear. They were shouting in Hebrew, which the young woman did not understand.

Witness Fawaz Abu Aisheh, who speaks Hebrew, said he tried to help the young woman, who was trying to leave the checkpoint. He offered to translate for her, but four Israeli soldiers arrived and pushed him away. At this point, a soldier shot al-Hashlamoun in the leg. The young woman fell to the ground. One witness says he saw her drop a knife with a brown handle, but another said he did not see a knife.

The Israeli soldier then walked closer to al-Hashlamoun and shot at her chest four or five more times, while she was lying motionless on the ground. Other soldiers yelled at him to stop, yet he kept on shooting.

The Israeli military claims that al-Hashlamoun walked toward the occupation forces with a knife, but witnesses said the young woman had her hands inside her niqab, her full veil, the entire time, and never tried to move toward any of the soldiers. Israel also released a photo of a knife with a blue and yellow handle on the ground at the scene. The two eyewitnesses interviewed by Amnesty and photographs of the incident contradict these official claims.

As for the allegation that al-Hashlamoun had a knife, Amnesty remarks:

Even if al-Hashlamoun did have a knife, Israeli soldiers, who are protected with body armour and heavily equipped with advanced weapons, could have controlled the situation and arrested her without threatening her life. Open fire regulations of the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank allow soldiers to open fire only when their lives are in imminent danger, and Amnesty International concludes that this was not the case in the shooting of al-Hashlamoun, as she was standing still and separated from the soldiers by a metal barrier. There was no attempt to arrest al-Hashlamoun, according to the eyewitnesses, or to use non-lethal alternatives.

To then shoot al-Hashlamoun again multiple times as she lay wounded on the ground indicates that her killing was an extrajudicial execution. Unlawful and deliberate killings carried out by order of government or military officials, or with their complicity or acquiescence, amount to extrajudicial executions, which are prohibited at all times and constitute crimes under international law. An extrajudicial execution would also constitute a wilful killing, which is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which applies to Israel’s long-standing military occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and a war crime.

An eyewitness who stayed in the area around al-Hashlamoun for 15-20 minutes after the shooting, before being forced to leave by Israeli soldiers, said no medical help was given to the young woman, who lay bleeding to death. Local media reported that Israeli forces prevented Palestinian medics from helping al-Hashlamoun, and did not put her into an ambulance for 30-40 minutes after they shot her.

“In order to comply with their obligations under the right to life, Israeli forces had a duty to provide al- Hashlamoun with medical assistance at the earliest possible moment, which they clearly did not meet,” Amnesty said.

Violations of international law

In Hebron, Israeli settlements are located in the center of the city. The young woman was killed near these settlements, which Amnesty makes clear “are illegal under international law.”

“Palestinian residents of Hebron have had their freedom of movement and their economic rights severely curtailed by” the closures imposed on parts of the city by Israeli occupation forces, Amnesty explains. “In addition, Palestinians are often subject to arbitrary detention and humiliating treatment by Israeli security forces stationed in the city, and are often subject to settler violence, which the Israeli authorities fail to investigate effectively.”

The Israeli military says it is investigation the killing, but Amnesty writes:

such internal investigations have consistently failed to identify those responsible for previous unlawful killings or to hold anyone accountable. International law requires states to ensure prompt, independent, impartial and effective investigations into suspected extrajudicial executions. Amnesty International is calling on the Israeli authorities to carry out such an investigation into the incident, promptly disclose the findings and ensure that anyone responsible for a human rights violation is brought to justice and that the victim’s family receives full reparation. Failure to effectively investigate a suspected unlawful killing in itself constitutes a violation of the right to life.

Amnesty also notes that more than 25 Palestinians, including at least three children, have been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in 2015. In 2014, dozens more in the West Bank were killed by Israeli soldiers. “In many cases, it appears that the killings were unlawful, and some may have been either wilful killings or extrajudicial executions,” the human rights organization states.

Evidence obtained by Amnesty International indicated that the killing of the Palestinian girl Hadeel al-Hashlamoun by the Israeli occupation forces in al-Khalil, in the occupied West Bank, on 22 September 2015 was an extrajudicial execution.

According to a report by Amnesty International, Israeli soldiers shot and mortally wounded 18-year-old Hadeel al-Hashlamoun after they stopped her at a checkpoint in the Old City in al-Khalil.

Pictures of the stand-off that led to her death and accounts by eyewitnesses interviewed by Amnesty International show that Hadeel at no time posed a threat to the soldiers to make their use of deliberate lethal force permissible.

This killing is the latest in a long line of unlawful killings carried out by the Israeli occupation forces in the occupied West Bank with near total impunity, Amnesty said.

Two eyewitnesses with whom Amnesty International spoke separately said that al-Hashlamoun arrived at the checkpoint at around 7.40 am, and was stopped by two occupation soldiers at the checkpoint and ordered to open her bag for a search. She was standing still, around three meters from the soldiers. She opened her bag and showed it to the soldiers, who began to shout at her, at which point she froze, according to the eyewitnesses.

One of the eyewitnesses, Fawaz Abu Aisheh, 34, told Amnesty International that the Israeli soldiers were instructing al-Hashlamoun to “go back” in Hebrew, a language she seemed not to understand.

According to Abu Aisheh, the soldier who had shot first got up and moved closer to her, until he was about a meter away, and then shot at her upper body four or five times again while she was lying motionless on the ground. He said that the soldier shot a few times despite other soldiers yelling at him to stop. The first witness also described the soldier moving closer to al-Hashlamoun and shooting her in the chest.

According to the organization, Israeli accounts of events is contradicted by statements made by the two eyewitnesses interviewed by Amnesty International and photographs of the incident which show al-Hashlamoun standing still.

Shooting al-Hashlamoun again multiple times as she lay wounded on the ground indicates that her killing was an extrajudicial execution.

Unlawful and deliberate killings carried out by order of government or military officials, or with their complicity or acquiescence, amount to extrajudicial executions, which are prohibited at all times and constitute crimes under international law, the report added.

An extrajudicial execution would also constitute a willful killing, which is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which applies to Israel’s long-standing military occupation of Palestinian territories, and a war crime.

Palestinian residents of al-Khalil have often had their freedom of movement and their economic rights severely curtailed. In addition, Palestinians are often subject to arbitrary detention and humiliating treatment by the Israeli occupation officers stationed in the city, and are often subject to settler violence, which the Israeli authorities fail to investigate effectively.